Life After Cable TV

So you’re ready to cut the cable cord. You’ve finally had it with paying too much for too many channels that you don’t even have the time to watch. Here are a few options of online streaming services that are cheaper alternatives to your current cable package.

Over-the-Air Antenna

For a one-time fee as low as $15, you can watch all of the network TV you want: NBC, ABC, FOX, CBS, PBS – all the channels you used to get with those old rabbit-ear antennas on CRT TVs. Modern antennas are better and even provide crystal clear, high-definition quality. The number of channels and picture quality depend on your location and the strength of antenna. Checkout TV Fool for a list of channels available in your area.

Netflix

Netflix is the current king of movie and TV streaming, and for good reason. With plans starting at $7.99 a month, Netflix has enough content to keep you binge-watching for the next decade. And there’s no hint of it slowing down, either. It seems like they’re constantly releasing exclusive comedy specials and new, original TV shows to keep viewers renewing their subscriptions each month. In fact, this year Netflix earned a career-high 34 Emmy Award nominations.

Hulu

Hulu is the other big player when it comes to online streaming. While it used to be that Hulu focused on mainly providing recent episodes of network shows after they aired, that has long changed. Hulu’s library keeps growing with more movies, more original content and exclusive streaming rights to full series – like all nine seasons of Seinfeld. That’s gold, Jerry. Gold. Also included in the $7.99 monthly fee are more than 900 films from the esteemed The Criterion Collection.

Amazon Prime Instant Video

It’s been a long time since Amazon was known just for selling books. And thanks to its ever-growing additions to its Amazon Prime service, it’s also been a while since they’ve been known just for selling things. Amazon Prime Instant Video is a true competitor to Netflix and Hulu, and it’s just part of what you get in the $99 yearly membership ($8.25 a month). In addition to their expanding library of movies and shows (including exclusives and originals), you also get access to Prime Music, ad-free access to Prime Playlists, and more than a million songs and albums. Oh, and you also get upgraded to free two-day shipping on everything shipped and sold by Amazon.

Sling TV

The newest neighbor on the online streaming block is Sling TV. It launched in February this year and urges consumers to “take back TV.” Not only can you stream shows and movies, but you can also stream channels live – including ESPN, AMC, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, TNT, TBS and more. While it’s more than double the price of other streaming services at $20 a month, it’s still relatively cheap compared to cable or satellite packages.

It can be hard to choose loyalty to a streaming service without knowing the full library and experiencing it for yourself. Luckily, all of the above options provide a free trial. So take a month or two and take them for a spin and see what services best suit your TV-watching needs.

Feel free to share your streaming service preference or any tips you have to adjust to life without cable in the comment section below.

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